Sunday, October 30, 2011

I decided to post a super special weekend post juuuuussssttt in case you woke up this morning in a cold sweaty panic because "tomorrow is Halloween and I don't have a costume for __________"

This costume is about as simple as they come, and could work for any man/woman/child.

In fact, I dare a grown man to wear this costume--that would be pretty awesome.

What you need:

-long sleeve pink shirt (this turtleneck was at Walmart for $3.88!)

-old t-shirt or tank top

-pink pants/socks/shoes (we had all of these)

-pink felt

-batting
-hair clips
-hot glue

-heavy gage floral wire

-pink blush/lip gloss

-needle and thread

-masking tape

-Take the old tank top/t-shirt and sew it to the inside of the long sleeve pink top
(turn both shirts inside out to do so). It's like you are making a pillow

Just connect the two bottom hems, and then right at the top of the sleeves so it stays in place.
This is so you can stuff the shirt and make your little piggy fat, and the stuffing won't actually touch their skin.
The stuffing goes between the two layers.
This is a picture taken AFTER it's all done, but it should give you the idea.

I used a sewing machine to do the job--and it was super quick (and I really, really do not sew) but you could also do it by hand.

-Stuff the batting between the two layers (don't connect the top all the way--you need holes to stuff through)

-Cut ears out of felt and attach to hair clips with hot glue.
-wrap floral wire with felt, twist, and glue to secure. Stitch by hand onto back of shirt.

-Cut a pig shaped snout out of felt and stick it to your little piggy's nose with masking tape.
yep. masking tape. It removes and re-sticks easily and she didn't mind it at all.

Dress head to toe in pink, finish with some rosy pink cheeks and lips and you are officially a pig.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I am on the lookout for you. Watching for you--the one who will turn my tomatoes to mush--around every corner. So far, you haven't shown your ugly face. But just so you know, when you do decide to come, I will have picked every single green tomato right off the vine so you can claim no victims.

Dear Self,

Why. O Why. Do you always wait until THE very last minute to throw (and cut! and sloppily "sew!") your kids' Halloween Costumes together? Every year.

Dear Halloween,

Let's get a move on already. I feel like you start all the way back in September thanks to the over-commercialism-of-everything, and I am ready for real fall.

Dear Real Fall,

You are pretty.

Dear Thanksgiving,

Am I jumping the gun? It's not even your month yet.

But.....

....I love you.

Dear Winter,

I heard you paid a visit to my sister. Please stay away until December. Thank you.

Dear Halloween Candy,

You seriously make me want to vomit. Yep, I said it......start the booing and throwing-of rotten vegetables.

What is so good about dusty fake chocolate and hard-as-rock carmel? I would much prefer the sugar to enter my body via cookies, cakes, or ice cream.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

pumpkins! everywhere!
I don't know why, but I seem to have a slight infatuation with pumpkins.
Every year I think I get just as more excited than the kids, to go pick ours out for the season.
We run down the rows and tromp right into the vines to find the good ones.
I am determined, that someday, somewhere, we will have our own little pumpkin patch.

orange and round.
red and skinny.
warty greenish
white and mini.
bumpy
short
I love them all,
pumpkins, pumpkins,
in the fall.

And just as much as I love to look at them.....I love to eat them too!
I am surprised at how many people decorate their homes with pretty pumpkin and squash and then just toss them at the season's end.
Roast those beauties up, remove the skin, and puree them! The puree will keep in your freezer all winter and you can add it to anything--soups, sauces, breads, and here is one of our favorites:
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes.
This is a big batch--it made 20 large, very filling pancakes. It can easily be halved, but we had them for our Saturday breakfast and then I froze the rest to pull out for a quick hot breakfast before school.

I grew up, quite literally, in the middle of a field. Acres and acres surrounded us, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance and the biggest, bluest sky up above. We spent a lot of time outdoors--picnicking, camping, fishing with my dad. And it didn't end when the weather turned cold--we went sledding often, climbed mountains to cut down our own Christmas tree, and I even remember spending one [January] birthday outdoors, sledding and opening presents in the snow.

Robby also grew up spending much of his time outdoors--hiking, backpacking, and exploring in the foothills where he grew up. When we married, we acquired new camping gear as wedding gifts, and spent part of our honeymoon in Glacier National Park.

We were off to a good start.

But lives soon got busy.

Full time work and school for both of us left little time to play.

We managed to squeeze in a little snowboarding in the winter, and that was about it for adventures.

A baby boy came and we camped a few times, the boy strapped on our backs and up for anything.

A baby girl came next, ant that's when things really slowed down.

Exploring with a toddler and a baby just wasn't going to happen......going to the store with the two was adventure enough for me.

So a few years passed. We attempted camping a couple of times, and each time spent the night with a crying baby in the car. Oh the joys.

But this year.

This year was different.

The Littles are finally able to go.

And go, and go and go.

They run, they hike, they climb.

And then they ask for more.

This year we have been lucky enough to find ourselves in the great outdoors over and over again.

I feel like I have found myself all over again--there is no place I am happier than being outside in the colors and fresh air with my family.

It is overwhelmingly perfect.

The colors are unreal right now as fall continues to take over the mountains.

No photo can capture exactly what it feels like to stand in a meadow surrounded by blazing reds, oranges, and golds.

This weekend we found a new favorite spot up Tibble Fork, followed by a hike uuuuuupppppp the mountain to the Timpanogos Caves. If you find yourselves in the mood for the steep climb to the caves (1100 ft in 1.5 miles, but all smooth paved trail)--we would recommend it. The Littles couldn't believe they were actually INSIDE a mountain, and while they were a bit disappointed we didn't see any bats, they can't wait to get up there again.

photos taken near Tibble Fork in American Fork Canyon, and hiking up Mt. Timpanogos to the caves.

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